Reversible coat



Dec. 17, 1940. s E NASHER 2,225,125

REVERS IBLE COAT I Filed Oct. 8, 1958 2 Sheets$heet 1 ATTORNEY s. E. NASHER 2,225,125

REVERSIBLE COAT Filed Oct. 8, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ja/aiZ/lsiax BY fiwwzxzw ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 17, 1940 UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE REVERSIBLE COAT Sarah E. Nasher, Stoughton, Mass. Application October 8,1938, Serial No. 233,975 I 6 Claims.

My invention relates to outer wearing apparel,

and more particularly to that type. of garment which can be worn with either side out, and which is known to the trade as a reversible coat.

A garment of the aforesaid type is conventionally made with the cloth for each side so cut, mated, and sewed together that an appearance of a finished coat is presented whichever side be worn outward. But, in order to combine the attributes and characteristics of two garments in the single piece of wearing apparel, the'cloth or material chosen for one side preferably differs in some respect from the cloth or material chosen for the other side.

Experience has indicated that the reversible coat having a dressy material with an attractive surface pattern or design as one side and a water-repellant material as the other side, is most in demand. Thus, a worsted cloth of light- 7 weight may be employed for the side to be exposed most of the time, while a gabardine cloth or the like may be employed for the reverse side. This combination imparts a practical dual utility to the single .garment since it resembles a topcoat when worn with the dressy side out, and has the advantages of a raincoat when worn with the other side out.

Fundamentally, a reversible coat is a specific type of garment in the general coat class, and perhaps because of this the general manufacturing design employed in the making of the customary coat has' been followed in making reversible coats. The novel part of my invention is achieved by a departure from the habitual manner of making a reversible coat, and which has been followed, to the best of my knowledge, for years.

My invention is directed to a reversible coat havinga step collar or notched lapel, that is, a

40 coat in which the lapel is formed by a part of the front portions of the-garment.

.According to the reversible garments of the prior art, the front portions of the garment are made by mating two appropriately-cut pieces of cloth of difierent appearance as aforedescribed, and known as foreparts. To form the lapel, a corner of a front portion, made of the two different forzparts, is rolled or folded over, as is well known to the art. This rolling or folding overfor the lapel exposes a corner of the forepart on the inside of the garment on a background of the exposed forepart. Since the garment is worn most of the time with the dressy side exposed which almost invariably is ofa much better grade of material than the other side, the clash between the lapel and the dressy exposed side results frequently in an unattractive garment.

My invention consists, broadly, of so making 3o the frontportion of a reversible coat that the garment will show, at leaston one side, and preferably on the side most commonly worn outward,

a lapel of a cloth and design harmonizing with that of the observable part of the coat, although the inside of the coat is of some other 5 design, a result that I achieve with practically no increase in the cost of manufacture of the garment.

In accordance with my invention the two mating foreparts are not cut to identical shapes as heretofore, but the inner forepart (and by inner I mean the side most commonly worn inward) is cut away at the lapel corner to take a lapel insert. The lapel insert is of the same material as the outer forepart, and, therefore, the two will match.

More specifically stated, it is the main object of my invention to form, in a simple and economical manner, a lapel portion for a reversible coat whereby a dressy lapel insert can be sewed to an appropriately-cut section of the forepart of the waterproof side of the garment to yield a corner which may be turned down after the complete forepart is sewed to its completed mating forepart to form a dressy lapel matching the dressy outside of the coat to thereby enhance its appearance.

Other features and objects of my invention will be apparent from the following description thereof, taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a reversibl garment made in accordance with my invention, with the dressy side out, and having one lapel in normal position and the other turned up partially to showmy novel construction;

Fig. 2 is a part view in perspective of the upper part of the coat with the lapels turned up;

Fig. 3 is a view of the outer or dressy forepart of a coat before sewing;

Fig. 4 is a view of the gabardine forepart of a coat before sewing;

Fig. 5 is a view of the lapel insert that is to be attached to the forepart of- Fig. 4 to complete the inner forepart;

Fig. 6 is a view in section on the line VI,VI of Fig. 1; and

Fig. '7 is a part view'in perspective of the front part of the coat at one stage of its manufa'cture.

For the purpose of describing my inventionI have chosen a reversible coat that has actually been made and sold in quantity, and comprlsesja man's garment having a out similar to a balmacaanxwith raglan sleeves, although my invention is equally applicable to other styles and cuts of coats having lapels formed by turning a upper corner of the fronts of the coat.

The coat, represented in its entirety by the reference character 2, is made for the greater on part in accordance with known practice, and consists of the proper outer and inner pieces and elements suitably assembled, sewed, and finished 1 pockets, buttonholes,. and the like, as well as the garment itself, are made in any approved and appropriate manner.

In common with most reversible coats, the coat ,2 has its outer side made of a dressy material of a predetermined pattern design, and an inner side of a water-repellant material of a different hue, or pattern, or both. In an actual embodiment, the outer side 4 is of a lightweight worsted with a herringbone'pattern, while the inner side 6 is of a twilled, tightly-woven gabardine, the coat sides being suitably created from pieces or sections cut on lines determined by the style of coat desired. These piecesinclude an outer and an inner forepart for the left front of the garment, and .similar parts for the right front of the garment.

For the customary reversible coat not embodying my invention, allof the foreparts wouldbe cut to the shape such as shown in Fig. 3 for the style of coat depicted. If the material used is finished on both sides, one of the cut .forepart's may be turned over so that the right and left sections are obtained. If the material be finished on one side only, enantiomorphic pattern sheets, or the same sheet turned over, maybe employed, all as is well known to the art.

In accordance with the preferred form of my invention, the outer foreparts 8 follow the customary shape, but the other inner foreparts each are formed of two sections, the main section being the customary shape except for a small corner which is cut out along an edge I2, as shown more particularly in Fig. 4. Thispiece with its corner cut out forms the main section l4 of the inner forep-art, the other section being the triangular-like, 1 el insert l6 having an edge I8 corresponding}: shape to the edge l2. The remaining edges f the insert correspond to the similarly-disposed edges 'of the forepart 8, it being understood, however, that suitable allow.- ances are made in the cutting to allow for all necessary seams.

The main section. I4 and the insert ii are suitably secured along their edges l2 and I8, respectively, by any appropriate seam 20, such as the plain seam shown, to form the complete inner forepart ,22 of a shape to mate the Outer forepart 8.

The lapel insert '5' of the preferred embodiment is of the same cloth used for the outer forepart 8, and is cut on the same bias, although obviously any bias may be employed to obtain any desired contrast between the lapel and the coat proper.

Once the complete sectionalized inner forepart 22 is obtained and since it now suitably mates the complete outer forepart 8, the manufacture 28, and the remainder of the upper edges, in conjunction with upper edges of the back parts, serving as a means to secure a collar 28, which is made'in the usual manner for reversible coats. The exposed ends of the collar form the other side of the notches 26 yielding a garment with notched lapels. The notch 28 may be of'any desired angle, and'can be nearly closed to provide what is known as a peaked lapel. By notched lapel, I, therefore, intend to include any construction with a discontinuity between the collar and lapel portion of the forepart.

It should be noted that the seam 28 is disposed just below the roll or fold of the lapel and in such position that both the front of the lapel and the/roll is. comprised of the insert IS. The section l4 and the insert l6 are deliberately cut for this effect, which is obtained by having the upper portions 30 and 32 of the edges [2 and I8,

respectively, substantially parallel to the line of the expected roll except for the bottom ends 34 and 36, respectively, which curve sharply to the vertical edges of the pieces. The seam 20 will, of course, correspond.

I prefer to so proportion the section 14 and the insert l6 that in the completed garment the seam 28 will be about three-quarters of an inch laterally (toward the sleeve) of the fold, except at the bottom of the lapel where the curves 34 and 36 cause the seam to meet the lapel substantially at the end of the fold, the curvature of the seam being indicated at 38. -The curve 38 is purposely created to avoid too acute an angle at the edges, and, more importantly, to avoid exposure of the seam when the coat is worn with the gabardine side out since the relative position of the roll will be approximately the same whichever side of the garment be worn outward. narrow bottom of the lapel it would be visible when the garment is worn inside out. With the shape of the seam'as described, its bottom terminus corresponds approximately with the bot- If the seam 28 extended beyond the tom end of the roll and the appearance of the reversed coat is not marred by the seam, which would now lie directly under the lapel.

' To stiffen the front portions of each of the front sides of the coat, a piece of crinoline or the like may be utilized. This stiffener 48 is placed, as is customary, between two mated fore-,

parts, and extends substantially the length of the front, and for a few inches from the edge. The stiffener may be secured in any suitable manner, as, for example, including itsedge, folded over a narrow tape 42, in the finished edge seam 44, which may be a closed plain seam type with dual stitching 46.

It may be observed, therefore, that I have provided a reversible garment that duplicates in appearance'the regular garmentof the same type.

and more specifically, duplicates the appearance of a topcoat in all respects, although the garment can also be reversed to provide, in effect,

a raincoat. When worn as a topcoat the lapel matches the -material 4 whether worn normally, or turned up, as shown in Fig. 2, during 0001, and windy weather. When worn with the dressy side out, the garment, therefore, has all the essential attributes and characteristics of a topcoat, whereas in reversible coats of the prior art the lapel in turned down position differs in appearance from the rest of the garment. This resemblance of my garment to a topcoat,

-with lapels turned up or down, is achieved by sectionalizing the inner forepart only, but it is obvious that the outer forepart may also be sectionalized if desired. Howevensuch construction is not indispensible since the garment, when worn reversedly and formed with a full outer forepart, will have its appearance enlivened by a dressy lapel contrasting with the drab hue of the usual gabardine.

Manifestiy, my invention is not limited to a mans reversible coat combining the features of a topcoat and a raincoat, but is equally applicable to other styles and other combinations, as well asother embodiments. I, therefore, desire that the appended claims be given their broadest interpretation, and limited only by the prior art in the field.

I claim as my invention:

1. As an article of manufacture, a reversible outer garment adapted to be worn with either side out and having the cloth of one side generally different in some visible respect from that of the other, said garment having complete inner, and outer foreparts substantially conforming in shape, said foreparts being joined'with their outer free edges substantially matched to provide a free upper corner adapted to constitute a free lapel when rolled or folded over either way, said inner forepart being sectionalized to comprise a main section and a corner lapel section joined along a line somewhat inward of the roll or fold of the lapel formed when the said outer forepartis worn outward, except that the bottom portion of said line is curved toward the 40 being cloth of the same appearance throughout.

2. A reversible garment of the type described, comprising a front portion having an upper corner adapted to be rolled or folded over to form a lapel for said garment, said, front portion having 5 a vertical free edge, and comprising a sectionalized forepart in turn comprising a main section of one cloth and a corner lapel section of a visibly different cloth secured to said main section, said corner section forming one side of said lapel and joined to said main section along a line somewhat inward of the roll or fold of said lapel with the bottom portion of said line deflected toward the vertical free edge of said front portion and terminating substantially at the bottom point of said roll or fold.

lapel and joined to said main section along a fold.

line somewhat inward-of-she roll or fold of said lapel, the said line being generally concave up-= ward and having its bottom end substantially determining the bottom point of said roll or 4. As an article of manufacture, a reversible coat adapted to be worn with either side out, and having the cloth of one side different in some visible respect from that of the other, said garment comprising complete inner, and outer foreparts substantially conforming in shape, said forepartsi eing joined with their outer free edges substantially matched to provide a free upper corner adapted to constitute a free lapel when rolled or folded over either way, said inner forepart being sectionalized to comprise a main section and a corner lapel section joined along a line somewhat inward of the roll or fold of the lapel formed when the said outer forepart is worn outward, the bottom portion of said line being deflected toward the vertically-matched edges of said foreparts at said lapel and terminating substantially at the bottom point of the last said roll or fold, the said corner lapel section being a cloth having a visible appearance differing from that of the said main section, but the same as that of the said outer forepart, and said outer forepartbeing a unitary piece of cloth.

5. As an article of manufacture, a reversible coat to be worn with either side out, and having the cloth of one side generally different in some visible respect from that of the other, said garment having complete inner and outer foreparts substantially conforming in shape and adapted to have a collar secured in'part thereto, said foreparts being joined with their outer edges substantially matched to provide a free upper comer adapted to constitute a free lapel when turned down either way, said inner forepart being sectionalized to comprise a main section,

a corner lapel section generally conforming in shape but slightly larger than said turned down corner, and a seam securing said sections together, said seam being substantially entirely on the inside of said garment when the said garment is worn with said outer forepartoutward, and being substantially entirely covered by said free lapel when the said garment is worn with said inner forepartoutward, the cloth of said corner section being visibly different from that of said main section, and harmonizing with the i cloth of said outer forepart, said outer forepart being cloth of the same appearance substantially throughout said outer forepart.

6. As an article of manufacture, a reversible outer garment to be worn with either side out.

and having the cloth of one side generally different in some visible respect from that of the other. said garment having a right and a left front portion, each of said from; portions comprising: -complete inner and outer foreparts substantially conforming in shape, said foreparts being joined at an upper angular corner of each to provide a unitary free upper corner adapted to constitute a free lapel when turned down either way, said inner forepart being sectionalized and comprising a main section and a corner lapel section conforming in shape but slightly larger than said turned down corner, said outer forepart being a unitary piece of cloth of the same general design throughoutrthe cloth of said outer foreparts and said corner sections being the same, whereby with said garment worn with said outer foreparts outward, the said front portions show the same cloth with said corners turned both up or down.

SARAH E. NASHZEB. 

